The invention relates to a device for enabling access to an interior of an apparatus that has a sheet discharge unit, with a mechanism for unlocking an upper apparatus housing part, supporting a sheet stacking container, and enabling such upper apparatus housing part to swing clear out of a sheet dispensing area of the apparatus so that such sheet discharge unit is freely accessible for sheet removal.
A device of the type for an upper apparatus housing part carrying a sheet stacking container for unlocking and enabling swinging such upper apparatus housing part clear is generally known from EP-0 333 106-B1. The sheet discharge unit, which has a C-shaped sheet guide track and a sheet discharge roller pair arranged on its upper sheet discharge end in the insertion area of the sheet stacking container, is, together with the sheet stacking container having a sheet stacking surface downward-inclined against the sheet discharge direction, an integral part of the upper apparatus housing part and rigidly connected thereto. The upper apparatus housing part is pivotably mounted by means of a rotational axis in the rear area of the C-shaped sheet guide track or of the apparatus at the stationary lower apparatus housing part. A front area of the apparatus opposite the rear area on the upper apparatus housing part has a handle part and locking means acting on the lower housing part by means of which the upper apparatus housing part is manually unlockable and swivelable along the sheet conveyor track and upwards about the rotational axis into an open position such that access to the apparatus interior is possible.
The disadvantage of this disclosed embodiment is that the C-shaped sheet guide track must have a point of separation, i.e. between a track area swivelable with the upper housing part and a stationarily attached track area in the lower housing part. Without an additional sheet conveying roller pair and without complex design of the sheet guide track at the point of separation, the result is unreliable sheet conveying in the sheet guide track and hence unreliable sheet discharge and stacking in the sheet stacking container.
The object underlying the present invention is therefore to provide a device that does not have these disadvantages, but instead permits simple access from above into the apparatus during servicing work, has a simple, compact and inexpensive design, and ensures reliable operation in both sheet conveying and in sheet discharge/stacking.
This object is attained with a device according to claim 1 and in accordance with the invention in that the mechanism for unlocking of the upper apparatus housing part and enabling such part to swing clear of the apparatus have a mechanism for displacement of the sheet stacking container out of an overlapping end area of the sheet discharge unit into a position at a distance from this end area, with the position of the sheet stacking container being predetermined such that the sheet stacking container can be moved past the sheet discharge unit during swivel movement with the upper apparatus housing part without touching (interference) of the sheet discharge unit and the upper apparatus housing part.
The sheet stacking container is advantageously movable by a displacement device along a sheet conveyor track that is substantially horizontal in its end area or along the sheet conveying direction of the sheet discharge unit on the upper apparatus housing part, from an initial position in the overlapping end area of the sheet discharge unit to a position outside the apparatus and back again.
Furthermore, the unlocking and swiveling mechanisms are advantageously arranged with the mechanism displacement on the upper apparatus housing part and have a handle that can be swiveled for their actuation. As such, first the displacement mechanism of the sheet stacking container and then the unlocking mechanism are movable in the event of manual actuation for the swinging clear and opening of the upper apparatus housing part by actuating elements arranged thereon.